The Catharsis of Change
by Silverlight10243
Summary: Obito is the shady leader of a notorious Mafia Gang, Kakashi a top detective of the police force and Rin had just recently returned from her Medical PHD only to realise that the two people closest to her heart are no longer how they once were.When the friends congregate, things are about to turn ugly. A year after , Kakashi committed an act of treason. He had his reasons.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hi all, I've FINALLY got time to edit this. I have to admit, this is one of my proudest works- no where near many of the legendary stories on this site but far more structured and emotional than all my previous stories.**

**I've also altered many canon ages to the demands of the plot so please don't ask me any unnecessary questions about that, this is AU after all.**

**Konoha is a fictional town, it was initially going to be Tokyo except I find fictional places easier to write, this way I won't have to worry much about geographical consistencies.**

**Pairings: ObiRinKaka, KakaAnko (those are the only ones that are of any significance)**

**That being said, enjoy the story!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 1.<strong>

Setting: Present day, Konoha

_The clouds were thinning, shards of sunlight pierced through the horizon. It seemed like a regular day, in fact, it was a regular day, and people went about their regular businesses, as unconcerned as ever, an insouciant attitude clogged the air, along with the suffocating stench of pollution from the traffic._

_One man, however, was baffled by the unpredictability of how events turned out, his mind was a tempest of emotions: he felt betrayed by himself, yet somehow felt a surreptitious tinge of pride, he was sure he had done the right thing, it was the most satisfying denouement out of the sea of misery he had to chose from._

_"I must say, I would never have guessed you were behind his escape and the fraud of his death, Kakashi Hatake, after all, you were always one of our best inspectors," remarked Shisui Uchiha, who was placed in charge of this interrogation session. "Though you must realize that he is the shady figure behind one of the most dangerous mafia organizations—"_

_"Well, thanks for stating the obvious—" Kakashi interjected abruptly._

_" I recall that you two were childhood friends right?" Shisui chose to ignore the man's interruption._

_Kakashi momentarily contemplated on this choice of selection, after all, he had expected someone like Ibiki, or heck, even his intimidating ex, Anko—they were what you would call, typical interrogators, but Shisui, well, speculation had it that he specified more on the psychological aspect of the matter. He didn't know whether to be grateful about it or not._

_"You have indeed, committed an act of treason, since the Police Force could not afford to loose you… Well… how do I begin…"_

_"Would you like to hear the full story, about, you know, Obito?"_

_"Ahh yes, that would be most considerate of you, please begin…"_

...

Around 13 years ago, that was when they first met each other, in Konoha High, one of the most prestigious boarding schools you could think of. It was during orientation, Kakashi—15 years old at that time— had, due to his early pedantic habits, arrived 20 minutes early before everybody else, he didn't make much of it, seeing as he was what one might call a genius, a prodigy, he liked to be before everybody else.

Whilst Obito, well, to be frank, was 2 hours late, he had gushed into class, with his signature goggles, claiming that he was helping an old lady carry her groceries. Afterwards laughter, mockery, erupted across the room, the boy had hung his head in shame. Then there was Rin, calm, gentle, caring Rin, who had handed him his papers and told him to ignore everyone's teasings.  
>Kakashi had always been, what most would call aloof, he topped his class exam after exam, shook off praise like it was nothing. All the girls secretly fawned over him; he had, as Obito would later call, his own personal fan club. Of course, he didn't give a damn.<p>

They were all annoying, a hindrance, they talked too much. Prodigies like him shouldn't mingle in unintelligent company, he reminds himself.

At the beginning, he didn't have friends, no, put it this way, he didn't want friends, all he ever wanted was to excel at everything, go to one of the top universities and get a good job. At that time, he had always believed that friends were the chief source of distraction to success, he couldn't afford that. Hence he crammed his free periods with studying and tutoring. Often, in his dorm, he would stay up well past midnight.

This irritated Obito, who had been his roommate and viewed Kakashi's habits as aloof and contemptible ("an asshole", he'd say), causing early hostilities to spawn between the two teenagers. Unlike him, Obito had heaps of times to goof around and always, always managed to be late. And gosh he was loud. Kakashi, smiled, remembering the time when his friend was so carefree and easygoing.

"But I was helping the cleaning lady sweep the floor!"

"The cat was stuck in the tree!"

"I needed to help the librarian with cataloguing the books!"

"No, I could not bear see an old lady cross the street alone!"

The classes were incessantly bombarded with his ridiculous excuses, which managed to irritate Kakashi the whole time. Obito's tardiness, to him, symbolizes laziness, sloth, the very thing he despised the most.

It wasn't until the end of term group project before Christmas that the boys and Rin had began to bond.

Their homeroom teacher, Minato Namikaze, had announced that they needed to write a short-script to submit to an international competition, it was titled Dreams.

Rin, Obito and Kakashi were placed in the same group.

Rin was as positive, optimistic as ever, Kakashi had suspected that she had a minor crush on him but at least she didn't behave as abrasively as an average fangirl would.

Meanwhile Kakashi was disgruntled at the idea of co-operating with a meek, (in his opinion) uninteresting girl and Konoha High's renowned loudmouthed troublemaker.

Obito had been thrilled by the prospect of working with Rin, his crush on her had been relatively obvious, it wasn't really infatuation like how guys gushed at girls they found appealing, and he had genuinely bonded with her. She was unusually perceptive and considerate, there was this one time after gym class when Obito had accidently twisted his ankle.

"It's no big deal coach, I can still play—" The boy had rambunctiously declared, despite the undeniably swelling pain that was slowly overtaking him, he re-fastened his goggles and with a wide grin attempted to limp back into the game.

"YOSH MY YOUTHFUL COMRAD THAT'S THE SPIRIT!" Maito Gai. A fervid martial arts aficionado, he donned his hideous green spandex whenever he could, wherever he could. There were rumours that he would wake up at 4 in the morning and run 50 laps around the field just to retain his fitness.

"Hey Obito—" Rin couldn't help but interject, Obito is hurting himself, she wouldn't allow it.

"Yes Rin-chan?"

"You should go to the nurse, your ankle doesn't look well."

"But the game…"

"Obito, we'll go speak to the coach together right?"

He grinned, " Yea, you wanna ehh, go to the nurse with me?"

She chortled a little, Obito's clumsy manners were really endearing at times, " well you couldn't limp all the way across could you?"  
>That kid was what a lot of people would call a 'loser', a 'klutz', his grades weren't atrocious, though they weren't exceptional either. Coming from an Uchiha, it was a disappointment.<p>

Right the Uchihas—

...

_Shisui cut him abruptly, "yes I am well aware of my family's obstinate sense of pride, their insistence on excellence and all that crap."_

_Kakashi nodded in agreement, "Obito was, you know, naturally an outcast in your family… By the way, did you know him well before?"_

_"Not really, we weren't that closely related. Is this really how Obito was like? Wow, I personally expected more of a broody, emo kid who was traumatized by some sort of tragedy, he's nothing like that."_

_"Yeah, in fact, I was more like the kid who sat at the corner brooding, ruminating on how stupid my peers were," Kakashi chuckled._

_"And now you're obsessed with porn," Shisui couldn't help but add, it was honestly pretty amusing, also this conversation needed to run as smoothly as possible, unbeknownst to Kakashi, Shisui's superiors wanted him to do more than interrogate the Hatake. Ever since Obito's supposed death, Kakashi had spasmodically plunged into fits of depression and pressure, apparently allowing him to retell his entire tale would relieve some of that and Shisui was a highly trained therapist as well as interrogator._

_"How did you know that?"_

_"Anko."_

_"Oh, right."_

...

They lacked inspiration for the project, dreams—it was difficult to conjecture anything out of this abstruse word. Kakashi had never been so angry with himself, he had studied really hard, too hard, some may say, the efforts were supposed to pay off, instead his mind felt like a blank canvas, he repetitively cursed at himself.

"Hey Bakashi!" Obito called

"Don't called me that," he was slightly more vexed.

"Right I was just thinking, maybe the idea of dreams could represent what we want to be in the future, so I was thinking we could sit around and talk about you know, our lives…" his voice trailed off.

"Yeah Kakashi, that's a good idea, we really need to co-operate and get to know each other," Rin added, blushing a little, just enough for him to notice.

"Bakashi, you are literally the most anti-social person I have ever met in my life and believe me that means a lot, my family is comprised of some of the world's worst sociopaths," he joked around.

Kakashi glared at him.

"Hey no offense, you don't have to take what I say so seriously…"

Realizing both of them could break out on a full argument anytime, Rin decided to start," My name is Rin Nohara, my dream is to go to university in America and study to become a doctor. Afterwards, I would like to cure illnesses and prevent as much deaths and heartbreaks as I can Um… who wants to go next?"

The room tensed a little, the awkwardness had been temporarily relieved when Rin spoke, only to return again when Kakashi continued to glare at Obito in exasperation; Obito at Kakashi slightly apologetically.

"I'll go next," snapped Kakashi out of annoyance. " I want to study well, become a lawyer or businessman and that way I won't have to worry much about falling into some financial crisis."

"Geez, that sounds fun…" Obito shook his head.

Kakashi rolled his eyes at him, how could someone as immature as Obito possibly understand? Dreams have to be realistic, attainable; they had to be achieved through hard work.

"Well I don't give a damn about the money! I want to change the world for the better; someday I'll travel around the world to offer a helping hand to those in need! Believe it, people will remember me as Obito of the Orange Goggles! I also want to make those people I really care about happy…" his voice trailed away as he stole a surreptitious glance at Rin, again Kakashi noticed. Considering his reclusive nature, he was actually pretty good at reading people, even the faintest nuances in temper, the most obscure evidences of disapproval—yes, it was something he took pride in.

"That was useful," Kakashi said (Obito of the Orange Goggles, how ridiculous…), " now what do we do?"

"Eh… I'm not so sure," Obito admitted.

"Idiot, it was your idea."

"Hey! You guys are supposed to help develop it too!"

Kakashi sighed, this is going to be difficult.

Meanwhile Minato Namikaze observed his students with interest, he had grown fond of Kakashi and Obito, both of them had hard times. One had to deal with the suicide of his mother at the age of 7 and a father with depression issues, which later led him to take his own life; afterwards the boy was consumed by bitterness. It was rather strange really, Minato had known Sakumo Hatake, who had been a fine businessman before depression took its toll, he doubted that the boy remembered him from the times when Sakumo and his wife bought along a sweet innocent toddler to Minato's house. The one with the cheery demeanor had been raised in a family with high expectations, members that excelled in many areas only to fall short on his parent's anticipations, Minato often suspected that the boy had, hidden beneath his usual self, an unquenchable yearning for acknowledgement.

He didn't tell anyone but this assignment was designed to make the students co-operate with people different to them, people they may not like. He had always believed that it was a pivotal skill.

As Minato reclined in his office, contemplating on those two boys, a knock sounded from the other side.

"Yes Kakashi come in."

The fragrance of warm, freshly made coffee drenched the air and the delightfully peculiar scent of ink and papers populated even the most obscure recesses of the room. Minato Namikaze occupied his desk central of the room, with a strenuous pile of ungraded papers lay at his left. Inhaling this redolence that made him remember his dad's cozy office— back before Sakumo's suicide; back before loneliness embittered him—Kakashi spoke up.

"Minato-sensei, I want to change groups, I can't work with them," his voice was curt, polite yet firm, betraying none of his wavering emotions.

"But Kakashi, the groups are already set, you are a genius, I'm sure you'd figure out a way to co-operate," Minato smiled at him. _The boy… he's far to enclosed. I'll need to open him up a little._

"It's impossible." Kakashi looked stubbornly convinced.

Minato sighed, "Kakashi, when you grow up, you would need to work with people of all sorts and types, you could choose not to like them but you would always have to learn to collaborate, regardless. Isolating yourself from people who are trying to reach out to you isn't good." _Your insecurities, your fears, just spit them out!_ He wanted to voice that out loud but eventually decided against this, after all, yelling such things and forcing the boy to yield to his sermons wouldn't do the kid much favour in the future. No, he should attempt to make Kakashi realize the importance of interacting with others as opposed to impel signs of communication.

"But Obito, he's never serious, he's always so immature and—"

"Kakashi! From what I've seen, aside from his usual lateness, there is nothing wrong with him. Before judging others, you should try improving yourself."

Silence.

"I know you had a rough childhood, suicides, drugs, depression… It shouldn't… Perhaps you need to move out of that apartment of yours, I'll help you rent a new one."

"Um…?"

"Kakashi, I knew your father, he was a great man irregardless of what people say about him. Understand? You can't control what had already happened but you are the one who decides on how you will react to it, your father wouldn't want you to be like this, your mother wouldn't either," he sighed," School isn't always about studying, try to make some friends."

"So…"

"You may not know but Obito also had a harsh time with his family, ever heard of the Uchihas?"

"The conglomerate firm Uchiha Corps? The benefactors of the Konoha Police Force, who hasn't?"

"Yeah, Obito wasn't a 'typical' Uchiha meaning stoic, prodigious and a little aloof," Minato chuckled a little, his girlfriend Kushina would probably scowl at him for talking 'ill' about her best friend Mikoto's family. "He fell short of their expectations, he was an outcast but he kept on being positive and you know how boisterous he acts. You should try looking on the bright side of things."

Really? Kakashi groaned inwardly, he dreaded where this conversation was going, he wasn't ready to reveal his feelings to anyone yet. But maybe what Minato said did make some sort of sense…

Ever since his father took his own life, Minato had been assigned as Kakashi's guardian, despite so, they've never really interacted much, the young genius had a sense of respect for the older man but that was it. In Konoha High, he had generally been eluding unnecessary, excess conversation, not only Minato—everyone.

"Um… I'd better be going." He finally decided to speak; this whole talk was starting to get awkward.

"If you ever need help, feel free to drop by. Remember Kakashi," Minato gazed at him, his eyes possessing a soft, almost benevolent quality. "Even if its just a little bit of talk, it's enough to sustain us and keep us upbeat in each phase of life. Without talk, our hearts would grow dark and serious. We're social creatures just like that."

"I know, thanks Minato," the boy returned him with a nod.

Ensuing this conversation, those three met up in the library after class, with a newfound determination, Kakashi was intent on all of Obito and Rin's suggestions. They brainstormed, he mainly outlined, drafted, developed those ideas. The Kakashi at that time would never admit it but he felt a slight sense of admiration on Obito, it must be difficult, being different from the people in your family and constantly striving for recognition.

"Hey Obito, Rin… I think I have a great idea."

He wasn't sure on where the influences were originated, nonetheless he told them about it.

The story started with a group of kids in a perilous war zone who each had their own ambitions and aspirations. Out of them were: singers, lawyers, dancers, travellers, writers, soldiers… They all started the same, all of them yearned for playtime, treats and mainly, peace. However 20 years later, after a pact they made, all of them were reunited in the remains of their secret hideout, only to realize that none of them were the same again. There were even people from opposing forces, working for rival leaders, at the beginning, all of them were ignorant of each other's identities as they reminisced about their past yet when it soon became clear, guns were drawn, poisons were placed in drinks. What ostensibly was a happy reunion transpired to be a bloody onslaught, why? Because people changed. Their dreams, their ambitions, drove them, motivated them and molded them.

"WOW Bakashi, that's really… dark…" Obito had been kind of unnerved, the story unsettled him a little, but the way Kakashi delivered it was bloody epic!

"Kakashi that's a great idea," Rin complimented, she smiled at him, "now let's start typing…"

Though it had initially been Kakashi's idea, he was surprised on how much the other contributed. Rin had added some more background on certain characters, making the story sound more realistic, furnishing a couple of character twists and the subtle nuances of people's emotions—that was her forte and Obito had conjured up some riveting ideas out of thin air whenever writers block struck either of them.

"Obito, it's all right if you don't know how to spell the word 'macabre', it is pretty difficult," Rin tried to comfort him after he committed numerous spelling errors whilst typing, she even tried to give him a hug.

"But I feel so dumb!" Obito pouted and folded his arms.

"That's 'cuz you are," Kakashi couldn't help but tease, "but don't worry, you'll learn how to spell properly someday…"

"Bakashi! Not everyone is a nerd like you!"

"Call me that one more time and you'll be named Dumbass, got it?"

...

_"Man you must be one angsty teenager," Shisui commented, "wonder what changed that…"_

_"Minato Namikaze, my guardian, he really showed me you don't have to live in the burdens of the past, he was one of the most supportive people I ever came across and…Obito."_

_"It's kind of ironic isn't it? The story you came up with, it really reflected your lives, for a 15 year old that pretty philosophical."_

_"Well… I wouldn't put it that way, by the way ehh…this is a little off topic but how's Anko doing?"_

_"Being Anko, you know, actually she's been acting even more violent and sadistic. Hell, didn't you hear that she bought a pet snake, a boa constrictor?"_

_"She is pretty eccentric…"_

_"You want to get back together with her don't you?"_

_Do I? Kakashi tossed off the idea, upon hearing Kakashi's treason and witnessing a misguided scene between him and an old friend, Anko completely lashed out him, demolishing his—well, formerly their—entire room, the next day, she moved away. "You lied to me! You lied to all of us, don't ever approach me again jerk!" he felt those words resonate throughout his conscience. She wouldn't even feign an effort to take in his futile attempts of explaination. She felt utterly betrayed, he didn't blame her, she had every right to feel that way. After her outburst he didn't feel like talking to her anymore; their relationship began disintegrating from then on._

_His treason... Why am I feeling what I did was right? The silver-haired man pondered._

_"Just out of curiosity, how's Rin doing?"_

_"She disappeared along with Obito…" Kakashi glanced uneasily to his sides, hoping against hope that his eyes betrayed no clandestine matters that were better left unsaid._

_"So the both of them…"_

_"I don't know, haven't heard a word from them for 5 months," he whispered, barely audible._


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Well, this came faster than expected, for some reason, I found more time to procrastinate and edit this chapter :)**

**Also, who do you think should be added as the fourth main character of this story: Shisui or Anko? Both of them have pretty good reasons... And rest assured, Team Minato still takes the spotlight :)**

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><p><strong>Chapter 2.<strong>

"YEAH! TOP GRADES, WE'RE SO KICKASS!" Obito yelled in excitement, elation surged through him. Their story had been graded top of the class, first place… Obito had never been first before, whilst Kakashi always had. Usually, the genius was indifferent towards his overachievements, however this time Obito could have sworn to see that cocky jerk flashed a smirk.

Teamwork, such a gratifying sensation to experience—all of them concurred on this.

Rin had never seen both of them so… congruous with each other before, she was glad they had started to click. Well, by that, Rin meant stopped being awkward and hostile around each other—for some reason, their little arguments never managed to cease completely.

That night, the second day before everybody would leave for Christmas Holiday, Obito had proposed that the three of them should grab some snacks and celebrate on the rooftop of their dormitories.

"I can't believe it's almost the end of first term, what are you guys doing over the holiday?" Obito asked.

"I'm visiting my cousins and doing some volunteer work at an orphanage," said Rin. Obito looked a little downcast.

"Aww I was wondering whether we could hang out together but never mind… How about you Bakashi?"

"I'm… well…" he didn't want to tell them, he cringed inside. He had no family to return to, his parents were dead, and he had lived off alone with some of their remaining money, the social welfare system took care of his fundamental living conditions, the external. Internally, he was shrouded with loneliness whenever he entered the house, it was unbearable and he had attempted to fend off these negative emotions by feigning his indifference towards other people. Nevertheless, these things, sentiments, can be suppressed but can never be dissolved entirely.

"You're gonna be a nerd and study the whole time!" Obito laughed out.

"Don't call me that! And no, as much as it may surprise you, I DON'T spend my time studying 24/7."

"Oh god," Obito tried to deadpan, addressing Rin, he whispered loudly in a dry, sarcastic tone, his intentions at annoying Kakashi were blatantly obvious. "The world's going to end."

"You guys are impossible!" Rin couldn't help it, she burst out cackling.

Minato's voice reverberated in his mind: isolating yourself from people who are reaching out to you isn't good.

Obito had a harsh time with his family…

"Um hey, can I tell you guys something?" he wasn't sure whether it was the right thing to do, but he had buried the burden of the pain inside him for too long.

"Ehh sure…"

"I don't really have a family to return to, I mean I have an apartment and everything but… my parents are dead, both cases are suicides."

"Kakashi…" it was Rin who spoke first, "how? How did this happen?"

"It's a really sensitive topic for me, I don't really want to talk about it."

"Hey Bakashi," Obito followed, "you really shouldn't be so reclusive, I mean if you kept your emotions bottled up, you'll go crazy. Heck, mark my words, I've seen some of my family members act like that…"

"Obito, I'm not sure whether you'd be offended but do you come from a sort of… dysfunctional?... family?" he wanted to avert the topic, really, telling them about the suicides of his parents were enough, he felt the crashing weight of isolation and knowledge a little more bearable. Now, he wanted to know more about Obito, why he… had managed to maintain a cheerful attitude, all right, maybe cheerful and annoying, but still.

Obito's reaction was rather unprecedented, "It's… also a sensitive topic…" his mood darkened a little. "They're not exactly the nurturing type, frankly, most of them are hypocritical elitists with a stick up their asses. I don't fit in, honestly I had serious doubts that I was adopted, you know being the way I am."

As if dreading that this would blacken the mood, he made an effort at laughing at himself. "Bah! I don't care that much, I'd rather be an idiotic retard than one of them! Besides, you guys wouldn't get to experience my awesomeness would you?"

It was there, a spark, an insignificant grain of animosity and dissatisfaction on the world as the way it is, this would later become embittered, bloom and flower into an intense hatred that drove him into committing the atrocious deeds he did. However, the Obito back then quenched these dangerous flames with optimism, good-humor and hope, back then…

"Hey guys…" Rin looked a little unsettled, pointing all the way onto the sports pitch, "is that Maito Gai doing his regular 5000 pushups?"

Obito cackled indefinitely while Kakashi frowned on how hopeless Gai's obsessions were.

...

_He grimaced in the bittersweet reverie of the past. They say that time flashes by in a blur when one is recounting the events that they cherish the most, being submerged in those memories had its cons—the culmination of felicity is always superseded by disappointment in reality._

_"He was kind of stupid, klutzy but in a way that is bound to cause laughter, his happiness at that time is contagious. He really did believe he could change the world for the better…" Kakashi's voice trailed off, his eyes felt misty. When was the last time it felt like this? 4, 5 years ago?_

_Shisui had been baffled by the silver haired inspector's tale, he was raised in the same family as Obito had been but, by contrast, he had always been a prodigy. The boy was clumsy, cheerful and easygoing, he was different from the rest of them and the Uchihas—Shisui lamented—would never tolerate that. He could only guess how hard is must be for Obito to live in the same household as his strict, illiberal family. At times he got frustrated, surely, surely, talent isn't the only thing that defines a persons worth—effort mattered more than that._

_Obito Uchiha… such a curious case._

_Of course, nowadays, things had been a little better; his family wasn't as harsh on its youngsters as it had been before. He smiled as he recalled Aunt Mikoto and the way she had always encouraged her youngest son that he was worthy regardless of his achievements, which were pretty exceptional anyways. His feats were often overlooked in comparison to his brother, Itachi's—who had previously gone undercover for the police force multiple times and is already studying in one of the top universities despite being at the mere age of 16._

_"Then there was the holiday, I must admit I was rather surprised to find him knocking my door, wearing a Santa hat topped with his goggles, with some freshly baked cookies, you should have seen him back then! It was the first time I allowed anyone into my house, of course, the me at that time was slightly irritated, acted slightly irritated in the exterior, yet inside, I was secretly glad about it. He didn't stay much long as I kicked him out of the house and told him I had important things to do!" he started laughing again, a hollow, empty laugh that could fool most people, Shisui knew better, it was devoid of actual happiness, filled with poignancy._

_He sighed at allowed himself to be immersed in Kakashi's words once again._

...

Obito's jaws dropped in horror as he made his way to the gym with his new best pal, THE Kakashi Hatake. He hadn't expected to be selected for the Junior Varisity Basketball team, though he had no doubts about Kakashi, that guy was good at everything, he was the perfect, model student that Obito had always wanted to be. Despite these minor moments of envy, Obito had never held a single grudge against Kakashi in their High School days; he was content about being the young prodigy's closest confidant. Though coming to think of it, the teenage Uchiha had little hope of making into the original team. Yeah, cool story bro, I guess I'll be a bench warmer, he chortled as he made fun of himself. You ask why was he so mortified, well, their team captain this year was none other than Maito Gai.

"I can feel the power of youth coursing through my veins! My comrades, this year, we will win the Junior Varsity Cup, have faith!" that martial arts aficionado bellowed passionately on top of his voice. " This will be the most youthful team Konoha High has ever had!"

His 'welcoming speech' stunned the rest of the team.

"LET US INTRODUCE OURSELVES, FRIENDSHIP IS CRUCIAL IN THE SPRINGTIME OF YOUTH!"

Kakashi felt his eardrums shatter.

"Oh for gods sake," Kakashi heard someone mutter," does every sentence he say have to include the word youth?"

Genma, Hayate, Asuma, Aoba—these were the names that Kakashi remember the most, probably because he kept in contact with all of them after graduation, he even went to the same university as Asuma and Gai, but that was afterwards.

"Right everybody! I've printed out the training schedule here! Listen, in our springtime of youth, it is crucial that we retain our fitness, as a result, morning runs starting from 5am are mandantory, as are the night time gym workout sessions! Remember 5000 pushups, 3000 situps …"

"Geez," Obito remarked sarcastically, "this guy is insane."

Similarly, the rest of the team lamented on the loss of their captain's sanity.

...

_Shisui facepalmed "Whoah Kakashi, you really caught me off-guard this time people like that exist?"_

_"Yeah, Gai's a good friend of mine despite his… fervent passion when regarding sports and … anything to do with fitness really…"_

_"Wait isn't he now a Kungfu movie star, I've heard people talk about him?"_

_"Yep, he invited my to his new movie premier next week."_

_Shisui gave in a curt nod, ushering him to continue his retellings._

...

The team consisted of 10 players, 5 people would be on court, whilst the other 5 were substitutes.

And, not-so-surprisingly, Kakashi was the star of the team, along with Gai, their coach adored them. After every single game, a shower of compliments would overwhelm them. Suffice to say, Kakashi had really started to enjoy the company of others, especially working together with them and devising strategies to win the game. It was Obito's idea, he would never even consider trying out if it weren't for his friend's insistence. Kakashi couldn't have been more grateful for that clumsy, amiable boy's support.

Obito didn't mind that much that Kakashi got the spotlight, he, similar to his friend, enjoyed the feeling of being part of a team, even though some of his lateness habits would occasionally horrify Gai.

Rin would often drop by to observe the games, on every single occasion she was greeted with alacrity by her lovable, klutzy best friend. Much like Kakashi and Obito, she had really began to relish her time in High School—she was never the most popular, or the smartest yet in Obito's eyes, there is no other girl like her. As for Kakashi, he indeed stopped perceiving the girl as one of his irritating fans; they've also become good friends.

"Hey both of you, I got some Gatorade and biscuits, take a break from all that scuffling!" She habitually joked.

Whenever Obito felt a little downcast by being overshadowed by Kakashi, she would cheer him up by telling him what an amazing player he was and that Kakashi was just abnormally faultless.

"Haha! Kind of like on of those pre-programmed robots, perfect, yes… but dull as hell!"

On occasions like this, he would gulp as he saw his friends slightly vexed reaction.

Nonetheless, Rin wouldn't tell anyone, she is constantly worried about Obito, he seemed too eager to improve himself, too earnest for acknowledgment that he was unwilling to excuse himself from any opportunity for proving his worth. Especially when it was blatantly obvious that he was hurt.

Spring was still a long way away, the ground was coated with a thick, silver blanket of snow, the trees looked as though they donned elegant whites attire on their originally barren bodies. Northern winds whisked their way onto the sports pitch.

Obito had exhausted himself from training with Gai and Kakashi, who were still obstinately competing on who could get the most hoops.

After a meeting of the Konoha High Environmental Commission, Rin had decided to drop by. She loved animals, the environment and in general, was a careful and considerate person.

"Obito! You'll catch a cold like this," she rolled her eyes when she saw Gai and Kakashi, those two were starting to get ridiculously competitive, "come on put this scarf on." Rin took off her scarf and wrapped it around Obito.

"Rin-chan, I'm fine!"

"No your not," she mildly scolded, he's just so cute, in a different way from Kakashi, she thought to herself. "And honestly, don't even think of joining Kakashi and Gai on their absurd competition."

At her own mention of Kakashi's name, Rin involuntarily blushed. She thought no one perceived that, but her friend caught her expressions just in time.

"Aw come one Rin! Fine then lets head towards the cafeteria…" He skulked.

...

_"Well , I think we can take a break from this, feel free to grab some food," Shisui remarked._

_"No thanks, I ate already before coming here."_

_The truth is Kakashi didn't feel like eating anymore, somehow, his feelings of nostalgia had numbed his appetite. For the past few months, he had been pondering on the whereabouts of two his of closest High School friends, reflecting bitterly, he thought to himself, Obito, Rin how are you guys doing out there?_

* * *

><p><strong><em>AN: Thanks so much for reading this chapter and don't forget to leave behind a review: why you like it? what could be improved (i would love to hear some constructive criticism)? who would you like to see more? who should be my fourth main character (isn)? Also, any writing tips?_**

**_Seriously though, reviews motivate me to write more and update faster :)_**

**_Until next time!_**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3.**

12 years ago

The summer holidays that year were anything but diverting, Rin normally loved them, but the one after her first year at Konoha High gave her a sense of emptiness, she had longed for those Environmental Commission projects; longed for those stinky, sweaty changing rooms; longed for her friend Obito's carefree laughter; longed for that mysterious, silver-haired boy's presence…

Which is precisely the reason why her demeanor lit up the moment she woke up to realize that a new school year is starting today. Her eyes had faint black circles around them; after all, she had spent yesterday night meticulously arranging her back-to-school stationaries and attire. But she didn't care. If someone offered to take her to High School instantly at the cost of half of her summer job salary, she would have gratefully complied.

Unlike most of her friends, Rin didn't originate from a particularly affluent household. Her parent's fortunes were survivable, though usually she didn't allow herself to indulge in the typical luxury goods like expensive perfumes, mascara and eyeliner.

"I'm leaving!" She called briskly to her parents and headed straight to the underground metro station, where her friend, dorm mate, Kurenai Yuuhi waited.

Those two have gotten pretty close last year and would often stay up at night chatting about boys. Kurenai, apparently, had begun to develop a crush on Asuma, Rin had seen those two walking together occasionally, yet none of them admitted publicly that they were dating.

Rin, however, was a little disconcerted whenever being asked who her crush was. Sure, she did like Kakashi, that's what she told her friend, but she most definitely didn't belong to his notorious group of fangirls.

And then there was Obito, which, Kurenai had constantly teased her about.

"He likes you! It's already pretty obvious, he even bought you a birthday present!"

"No…," she tried defending herself, " it's a pencil case, I mentioned to him that the one I used was getting worn out… he was just being a really good friend…"

"Come on!"

It was true that she liked him, albeit it was more that he was someone she could tell everything to, spill all her worries, hug, nag about his tardiness, carelessness and clumsiness—he was more like her best friend and brother.

"You know I like Kakashi," she replied.

"Oh, everyone likes Kakashi, believe me, I used to like him too. Until me and Asuma started to click…"

"Who's the lovestruck one now?" Rin teased at her friend, Kurenai flushed.

"Mmm… I'm still debating if I'm Team Obito or Team Kakashi? I'd probably take the former."

"You're impossible, you make it sound like a shipping war…" Rin shook her head.

"So… any recent developments?" Her friend smirked.

"Well, Kakashi is far nicer than he was at the start of the year… And, we talk now and then because we're both friends of Obito…" She could help it; her face was a deep shade of pink from all the blushing.

Obito Uchiha had re-fastened his orange goggles as he approached the gates of his school, immediately upon seeing the brown-haired, kind-hearted girl, he yelled mirthfully: "RIN-CHAN!"

The girl that stood beside her, the one he was convinced that Asuma was infatuated with—seeing as Kakashi had accidently bumped into them taking a 'regular evening stroll' on a Friday night—gave Rin a gentle nudge and smirked.

"Obito! How's your summer been?" she inquired excitedly.

"Meh… it was alright, mum and dad were still pretty busy so we couldn't go anywhere… "

She could help notice a bandage around his right index finger. "Obito… what happened to that?"

"That… um… I was asked to look after one of my younger cousins, … well, he wasn't happy I took his dinosaur toy, mind you he is only 3, and he bit me."

Obito groaned as Rin burst out laughing.

"You are impossible!"

Another year, Kakashi thought, he had grown to enjoy Konoha High, much to his own incredulity, approaching his dormitory, he sighed as he heard the ruckus of his friends guffawing at each other's jokes and boasting about how their summer vacations were like. Great, just great, he groaned, I told Obito I needed some privacy on the first day of school just to get my room re-organized.

"Obito what the he—" Kakashi Hatake grumbled again as realization dawned on him that everybody, literally everybody, was sitting on his bed.

"Come on Bakashi, sharing is caring, just let them stay on your bed—"

"Really Obito? If sharing really caring then why are you the only one on your bed?"

"I—"

Honestly, Obito was possibly the most annoying dorm mate ever, always inviting others in, haphazardly casting his belongings all over the place and was consistently, frustratingly, amusingly, late the whole time. Yet Kakashi found him exceptionally entertaining to have around, compared to his rather stoic personality, Obito was the perfect counterpart, being cheery, boisterous and clumsy as hell.

Suppressing the… rather disturbing thought that he might has missed his orange-goggled room mate during the holidays, he joined his friends as he sat on (much to Obito's reluctance), the other bed that was being dominated by one very loud Uchiha, who was previously enjoying the fact that his friend was suffering from an invasion of personal space.

Speaking of summer, Kakashi is only one out of the trio that found it particularly pleasant.

Finally, after the constant nagging of Kushina and Minato, he had resolved to move out of his miserable apartment.

"Kid, you can't possibly live there, it's as gloomy as one of the typical prison cells in police stations, dattebane!" He had heard Kushinaa exclaim.

"But I…"

"No worries you can live with Minato and me dattebane," the red-haired woman confidently declared.

"Really?" Kakashi was stunned by her straightforwardness, feeling unsure of what to reply.

Internally, he had secretly coveted for an opportunity like this, an opportunity for someone to ask him to live with them—he had long since found the loneliness in his apartment unendurable. Nonetheless, he had still inwardly chastised himself as another string of thoughts sprung within his conscience, telling him that it would be best to leave others alone and carry on living at the place where his deceased parents left him. Back then; he was confident he could handle all the emotional stress.

"Kakashi," Minato's voice was just as concerned as his girlfriend's, although much calmer, " you would be more than welcome and don't think that you would be a bother, we're more than happy to help. Your dad entrusted me to be your guardian so you're part of my family. Besides you would only have to spend your holidays here, the rest of the time you would be at school." He smiled warmly.

"… Could I?" Kakashi eventually asked, evidently still unsure.

"That's settled then! You're living with us" Kushina happily announced, not giving Kakashi any time to react.

The first few days were slightly awkward for him, despite sharing a dormitory with someone in boarding school, Kakashi was still not used to living in the company of others, especially not with two people who possess the same maternal and paternal qualities as his parents once had.

At the beginning, he had no idea on how to behave, afterwards he had gotten used to the reality of having, perhaps, surrogate parents, yet he often stumbled into rather embarrassing scenario's when Kushina had started teasing him on his pedantic, perfectionist habits and, of course, girls. Boy she was persistent, what their neibours called her: "The Red Hot Habanero" was a fittingly deserving epithet that accompanied her feisty personality.

"So is it the gorgeous one with the long red hair?"

"Or the one with the short brown one?"

"Oh, I know it's the one with the spiky blond ponytail!"

Minato's girlfriend can cook, sure, the boy had managed in making his own food for the past 6 years but it was all simple work, none of the delectable cuisines Kushina made. Her culinary capabilities were simply legendary; Kakashi especially drooled over her homemade sumptuous sushi's layered with salmon, avocado and eel, her salt-broiled saury and her miso soup with eggplants.

Unknowingly, the wounds from the young prodigies past were subconsciously healing themselves.

Minato had started observing the child and with a sense of mellow contentment, noticed that the boy, though still appearing aloof at several times, was starting to become less and less embittered. The boy, in spite of his hardworking, studious habits and being clogged with books, was starting to open up to him; he was beginning to voluntarily make conversations.

He's recovering; the man thought to himself, slowly but surely, I'll do my best Sakumo.

A few weeks had elapsed since the first day of sophomore year and the regular routine of High School had seeped in the conscience of everybody, replacing the fervent feelings of summer.

It was Kakashi's birthday, he had never thought much about it, and geniuses like him could afford to ignore such advents, the Kakashi before Konoha High would have concluded. Even now, he doubted that celebrating it would do much good.

So, not expecting anything special, he swung open the door of his room only to discover that place was pitch black: this was unnatural, Obito would usually arrive there before he did—yes, these were probably the only times that Obito was earlier than Kakashi—as the silver-haired boy would spend most of his time staying up late in the library.

"SURPRISE!" Everyone's yell had caught him off-guard.

Instantaneously the lights flickered on, his rambunctious best friend hurled confetti upon him, heck, there was even a cake.

"What the—"

"Happy Birthday Kakashi!"

"Bakashi," Obito tried to correct.

"What—"

"It's your birthday genius," Obito remarked, "so we're throwing a party in our dorm, hope you don't mind."

"I think I'll just—"

"My eternal rival, I have come to youthfully wish you a youthful birthday!" It was Gai and he held out a pair of brand new trainers, "here, this is your youthful present. You can wear them for PE lesson or training."

"Happy Birthday, I've got you…" Rin had a faint blush on her face, which had gone unnoticed by most people in the room, "well, I hope you'll like it." She had given him a set of the newest encyclopedia editions, "I know that you liked to use those a lot, though the ones in the Library are of a older version, think about it, you can study in your dorm!"

"Aww, I'll have to deal with another nerd—"

Kakashi gave Obito a mock-death-glare.

"Ignore the idiot beside me named Obito, thanks Rin, I really appreciate this." He smiled at her, in a way that he would have thought as platonic; apparently Rin herself perceived it as a gesture of development in their relationship and beamed in delight.

Afterwards, he simultaneously received a special keychain, an entire pack of cigarettes accompanied by a deluxe-edition lighter (he doubted he would ever use these though…), a new night-study lamp, a scandalously high pile of flowers from anonymous fangirls and from Minato, who had dropped by just to pay him a visit, an expensive fountain pen with his name engraved on it, which Kakashi had still kept present day.

"Well… Obito…" he turned and held his hand out, "where's my present."

"Relax, I've got it in my suitcase, I'll go get it now," Obito complained, immediately shifting his emotions to a devilish glint, he held out a wrapped parcel, "open it, you'll love it!"

"Obito…" Kakashi wasn't sure whether to trust his friend or not, from Obito's expressions, you could have easily mistook that parcel for a time bomb. He glanced furtively at the rest of the room, Rin was smirking, so were Asuma , Genma and Aoba. As for Gai, well… Gai was just being youthful as always, coming to think of it, a little MORE youthful than usual.

"Believe it!"

First layer.

"You'll spend hours hooked on them Bakashi…"

Second layer.

"…and you'll be addicted to them for the rest of your life, with no regrets…"

Third and final layer.

"What the hell!" Kakashi could have sworn that he delivered the most pulverizing punch since the day he was born, because behind the layers of wrapping was none other than Japan's number one notorious porn series: Icha Icha Make Out Paradise.

...

_"You're not serious are you! Your 16__th__ Birthday present, porn?!" Shisui couldn't control his disbelief and laughter._

_"Yeah, Obito was damn right that I'd be addicted to it for the rest of my life," he chuckled._

_Somewhere else in the police interrogation headquarters, an infuriated Anko Mitarashi staring at the screen that displayed the entire process, bellowed: "Not only does Obito Uchiha hold responsibility for being the shady organizer for one of the most dangerous mafia organizations, for the death of hundreds, thousands of people—he had to be the one that introduced my ex to porn! Unforgivable! Someday that diabolical bastard would be sorry if I ever got his hands on him!"_

_Her companions, by nature, stole wary glances at each other._

_Soon, the nostalgic air dissipated by Kakashi's light, comedic account had began to return._

_Reverting to his curt composure, Shisui asked," so… did he ever take you to visit his, my, family? I mean you two were best friends right?"_

_"Once, he invited both me and Rin, it was on the third year, the school had to be shut down for a few days, Minato-sensei was too busy with organizing the end of year exams and Rin's house was too far away, so we decided to live at his house. Of course, his parents were away and so was his little brother—hey did I forget to mention that Obito had one…"_

_"He did? Have you met him…" Shisui seemed uncannily curious about the matter._

_"Oh no, he wasn't there when we stayed over, heard Obito mention about him a couple of times, forgot his name—apparently a prodigy like most of his family."_

_"Oh… Right, would you like to proceed on the story?"_

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Let me get this clear, this would probably be the last fluffy, fully light-hearted chapter of this story, shit starts to get serious after this.**

**Any feedback? Honestly, as an aspiring writer, nothing gets better than a couple of constructive criticisms. Since this is a more angsty, serious piece of story, please don't leave reviews that simply say: "lol! Update please!"**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4.**

10 years ago

It was the fourth and final year of High School, for the past three years both Kakashi and Obito had discovered precious bonds that they would never learn to relinquish fully later on in their lives. Kakashi had evolved from an introverted, angsty teenager to a chill, insightful and still-pedantic young adult—the tardiness and lame excuses would come later. On the other hand, Obito had mainly remained as the same Obito that unpredictably disrupted orientation 3 years ago, still the same issue with lateness, still the orange goggles, still the same excuse, still the same optimisms.

The silver-haired boy couldn't help chortle as he recalled how the klutzy Uchiha charged in at form time on the first day of Senior Year, 30 minutes late, panting, face livid from the running.

"Sorry Minato-sensei! Maki the cleaning lady needed my help in carrying her equipments to the storehouse, I couldn't say no to an old lady like her—"

"LIAR!" He was cut short by the rest of the class; some of them deliberate in their rejection, Obito looked a little downcast and pouted.

"But it's true!"

Apparently, he was still faintly dissatisfied about this subject 20 minutes into Biology class.

"Hey Rin, Kakashi," he whispered as they were dissecting a pigs heart, "you guys believed me right? I mean Maki-san is 61 years old, she should have retired but she needed more money for her grandson's education, so as a result she had to extend her working years, I mean how can I just cast a blind eye on someone like that."

"Alright dumbass, we believe you, remember? We saw you helping an old lady carry her groceries last year when we were on our way to your house," Kakashi replied, "oh, and because of that we arrived there near dinner time."

Obito groaned, "Bakashi, relax a little, it was only 3 hours late."

"Three hours right?" Kakashi snorted in mild derision. "One can do a lot in three hours."

"Guys, calm down…" Rin had to intervene, again. Gosh, they simply had to argue at every single open opportunity possible, don't they?

She grimaced while attempting to avert her eyes from the grotesque, bloody organ in front of her—Rin Nohara had loved animals ever since her childhood witnessing part of it's corpse, let alone dissecting it was unbearable, unthinkable.

_But you're going to be a medic, a doctor, remember? What's the use of cowering in fear like that? You'll never have the courage to handle surgical difficulties if you continue to squirm at the sight of every single bloody organ._

She braced herself, bit her lip, hands still shuddering uncontrollably as she lowered the knife.

"Rin-chan, you don't seem very comfortable," Obito had noticed her discomfort and snatched the equipment out of her hands, "you sure you don't want me or Kakashi to do it instead?"

Rin heaved a relieved sigh.

"I'll do it if none of you guys mind," Kakashi said indifferently, though within, he had dreaded the feeling of coming in contact with exposed animal organs, their gruesome, sludgy textures slithering through his hands; wearing gloves really didn't help him much.

"Nay Bakashi, you hate that kind of stuff I'll do it," without waiting for the guy's consent, Obito instantly started to remove the grease surrounding the artilleries.

The whole practical assessment proceeded quite successfully with Obito doing the dissection and Rin and Kakashi recording notes of observation, then the three of them eventually drawing conclusions from what they could ascertain.

Except that Obito had unknowing cut himself, leaving blood red trickles down a slash on his left arm. It really was just a superficial wound that would eventually recover by itself, that was what the boy had initially thought, nothing worth concerning about.

As they were about to leave, Rin held him back.

"What's the matter, Rin-chan?"

"Your wounds, you are hiding them from me," her voice was filled with scorn and concern. Obito isn't going to pretend he's fine, no, not in her presence.

"No… it's nothing serious, really…" he attempted to chuckle.

"It's bleeding pretty heavily, come on, we're gonna get it bandaged up before to next lesson."

"But—"

"Oh Obito, sometimes you just tried too hard, it's not brave it's foolish. Just don't hurt yourself okay? I'm always watching you." Beneath her rather sober expression was a smile just enough for Obito to discern.

He grinned back at her.

* * *

><p><em> "Obito had grown to really love Rin and she had really began to care for him, you see, she really was everything to him and he would do absolutely anything, anything for her… I never really deserved her, same as I never really deserved Anko, all this time, I pretended I didn't notice her efforts at flirting with me, I treated her as a friend and nothing else," Kakashi commented. "Actually all I wanted to do is make her realize who she should really be with."<em>

_ Shisui raised his eyebrows in suspicion. "How about what he did? Was it all because of her?"_

_ Kakashi's expressions darkened and deciding to ignore those plaguing thoughts, he muttered, "not entirely, no."_

_ Deciding to take a break, he glanced at his surroundings, despite being part of the police force for over 7 years, he had never actually been inside those interrogation cells—a thought dawned on him, there were probably surveillance cameras around, meaning that people, perhaps in another remote corner of the station, had their eyes on him._

_ The man pleaded to himself that Anko wasn't one of his uninvited spectators. Otherwise he'd have a multitude of explanations to give—that being said, only if she were willing to listen._

_ Kakashi shifted, perturbed. Of course, this was also partially due to his separation from his Icha Icha Novel Collection, which he was obliged to hand in to the security checkers during the interrogation—subliminally, his mind was itching for some smutty tale about people who had little to worry about in their nonchalant lives, aside from trivial inconsistencies in their love affairs. How he wished everything had been much more congruent, just like the novels, where everybody had their fair share of a happy ending._

_ Sighing, he resolved to question his interrogator something that had been persisting unrelentingly at the back of his mind: "Are you sure you never knew Obito personally?"_

_ "Not really…"_

_ "But you guys are one family, you sure you didn't bump into him in some sort of reunion?"_

_ Silence._

_ "Yes, no, maybe… I can't remember, around 7 to 8 years ago we completely lost contact with him, he simply vanished off the face of the earth, that is until—"_

_ "So you did know him?"_

_ "I… no." _

_ "I don't believe you," was the brisk, assertive reply dictated by Kakashi. _

_ "Mr. Hatake, please recall the purpose of our interrogation—it's about your relationship with Obito Uchiha, the rest are none of your concerns and just to reiterate my previous affirmation. No, I did not know Obito personally."_

_ Kakashi had been in the detective business long enough to notice the most obscure nuances of expressions, gestures and postures that conveyed the lies and unsaid truths. So far, he was forced to admit, Shisui pulled it off well._

* * *

><p><em> "Shisui's too soft, let me do this!" Anko insisted to her superiors as she observed the frustratingly lengthy interrogation, feeling her insides embroiling with anger.<em>

_ "No way, he may be subtler and slower but he knows his thing and you're way too short-tempered! Considering how he is your ex-boyfriend, you'd have to have an entire team refraining you from killing him!" Ibiki Morino, one of her partners snickered, "besides, getting the information out of him isn't the only purpose of this interview."_

_ "But look, now Kakashi is interrogating him, that damn cunning bastard!"_

_ "Whoah no harsh feelings," another one of her colleagues Genma, also former classmate of Kakashi's, exclaimed," he may be your ex but—"_

_ "Don't tell me what to feel! Ibiki, what is the other intention then?"_

_ "Your ex-boy—"_

_ "Just call him Mr. Hatake."_

_ "Nay I'll go with Kakashi."_

_ "Fine. Whatever."_

_ "Look, Kakashi hasn't been feeling the same ever since Obito Uchiha's assumed death," he pasued, " which we all know was a fraud, he's been having depression and stress issues, Shisui was supposed to help treat that."_

_ "Well he's just allowing that damned bastard to recount his entire life story!"_

_ "It helps, I guess." _

_ Anko winced inside, notwithstanding his betrayal, there was still a part of her that was anxious about his well-being. No, she did not still have 'feelings for him' as her colleagues claimed, she merely found the way he tortured himself uncomfortable to watch. Almost against her will, her thoughts drifted to the day that they first met._

* * *

><p><span>6 years ago<span>

The morning seemed eerily quiet as ominous clouds gathered over the ashen skies, it was Kakashi's 22nd birthday, except there really wasn't anyone left for him to celebrate with anymore. Rin was still overseas attaining a Medical PHD, Gai and Asuma were out of the city for the moment, while Obito… while Obito had simply vanished off the face of the earth. Not a single word.

The silvered haired adult sighed, it's been more than two years since their last meeting, and he wondered whether his friend was still going well.

Kakashi Hatake swung the door open and pulled away the book he was reading: Icha Icha Police Station. Today was the day he'll be part of the police force, he wasn't sure what got him into this job—until then, he had been majoring in law—most likely Minato-sensei's unforeseen death.

That sheer thought had struck an excruciating pain in his chest, Kakashi attempted to numb his senses like he used to do whenever the matter of his parent's death resurfaced in his conscious when he was young. Needless to say it was to no avail, memories and unpleasant experiences have an inexplicably ruthless way of resurfacing themselves when you least need them.

Four month's ago, just before he was about to take his final university examinations; a distressing phone call had reached his ears.

Both Minato and Kushina were found cold, lifeless, slumped at the back of their car. By the time Kakashi had hurried to the scene of murder, blood had already splattered all across the place where they laid, seeping into every nook and cranny, yet what really baffled him the most was that the police who investigated the crime scene claimed to have not found any substantial traces of the killer.

To this day, their frigid, emotionless eyes still maintained a mocking quality about them, which were burned in Kakashi's memories. To this day, their deaths still haunted him. To this day, their murderer remained scot-free.

And their child, their child Naruto, barely four, was left orphaned, alone to face the vicissitudes of this unwelcoming world. A few days later, the kid, still oblivious of his parent's demise, was taken to an orphanage, except the grownups that took him there claimed, "Minato and Kushina Namikaze were away on a long- time business trip. Those people would look after you."

Little Naruto chose to believe them. Not that the kid had much of a choice, in retrospect.

He brushed these impeding thoughts away as he stepped into the room. Suddenly realizing the rather salacious novel he tried to conceal was popping out of his pockets, Kakashi made another attempt to stuff it in further.

"Hey you! Aren't you going to introduce yourself?" A woman, who couldn't have been much older than him, shouted out. "Yes, I'm talking to you, yes you."

She was an inch or so shorter than him, with her scruffy purple hair haphazardly gathered in a ponytail that seemed to spike up as she flashed a sadistic grin at her new partner.

"Kakashi Hatake, pleased to meet you," he immediately resumed his eloquent manner of speech developed in law school, "may I ask, what's your name?"

"Anko Mitarashi, newbie, now, let me show you around." A wild, and yes, slightly psychotic, grin manifested itself on her countenance, which would have scared off most newcomers, Kakashi remained unfaltering, except for the slight glint of amusement in his eyes.

Then her eyes travelled to his pockets and her face contracted in incredulity.

"Is that… Icha Icha Police Station you have there?" she inquired accusingly.

"Yes…" Kakashi swallowed. _Don't act all cowardly, it's nothing to be ashamed of… nothing to be ashamed of… _"I must say, a pretty entertaining novel, Jiraiya's newest work." He resumed his smile.

"Really?" Anko stated brusquely. "Well, the police station is no brothel like that depicted in this novel. No one dates each other, no one marries, nor conducts a one night stand. So I'd suggest you embrace reality and save your romantic fantasies for yourself."

An interesting one, she mused to herself. Anko had already acquired a notorious reputation in the police station. In the past few months, she had switched from assistant to assistant, partner to partner, all of them had reportedly found her either difficult to work with (due to her exceedingly bold and brazen attitude) or were immediately intimidated by her sadistic ways. Setting aside his unconventional and queer taste in novels, he seemed remotely decent.

This, concluding from first impressions, bookworm who had apparently been studying law at university seemed relatively polite, nor did he shrink away like those prissy little newbies she had previously encountered. Even so, Anko doubted their co-operation would last long.

* * *

><p>"You couldn't have been much older than me," Kakashi questioned curiously, it had been a few days after his enrollment and he could perceive that his partner and leader had the brash abrasiveness of someone who had just freshly joined, "how on earth are you the head of a unit, you couldn't have joined for more than two years that's the minimum requirement—"<p>

"Bah! I didn't go to college, went straight to the police training station, officially joined the force after two years," she smirked at him, "what? You surprised?"

"No it's just, you couldn't have been more than 20, pretty amusing," he nodded curtly.

"Things happened. I no longer have the luxury to enjoy my life like you lackeys do, I've got a criminal to catch," she stated matter-of-factly.

"A criminal?"

"What?!" She snapped, irritated that someone was trying to venture in her personal business.

Kakashi could sense that he had broached a delicate subject, mentally chiding himself for his obliviousness; he decided to veer away from the topic and concentrate on something else.

"My apologies, Anko, anything you would like me to do?"

* * *

><p><em> Kakashi has been orphaned since 10, he was much more vulnerable and younger than you, a thought tugged at her subconsciously. Yes, forget about what Orochimaru did to you, Kakashi has suffered worse. No, not that, he helped you, remember? <em>

_ DAMN, Anko cussed at that, struggling to dismiss the idea, telling herself: remember that silver-hard bastard committed treason, he betrayed you._

_ Still… there was a part of that still wanted to approach him, talk things over. Ever since Anko realized she held romantic feelings towards him, she had been especially paranoid when anyone female was within Kakashi's presence—she was your typical possessive girlfriend. Naturally, the man had still retained quite a lot of admirers, even after his time in high school or university._

_ Tch… Anko reflected. I've been in so many love triangle situations with that bastard that I've lost count. Perhaps someday if I lost my job at the station I could live off the income of a couple of cheap romance novels inspired by my oh-so-competitive love life. _

_ With that, she chuckled bitterly to herself._

_ Kakashi… Kakashi, that name plagued mercilessly at her thoughts, refusing to relinquish itself._

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Naruto was first mentioned in this chapter, I think I should mention that in this story/ AU, Naruto is younger that Sasuke by around 3 or 4 years. Not that they'll actually interact that much but it's still something I'd like to point out.**

**Feedback? :P Particularly Kakashi and Anko's first meeting? I wasn't sure whether I executed it well enough because I didn't want them to act all lovey dovey at first sight, bear in mind, this is Kakashi and Anko we're talking about. **

**Wow, I was literally blown away by the sheer thought, length and constructiveness in all of your reviews! Send some more? :) This is quickly becoming my favorite story to write due to the detailed feedback I'm receiving, so keep the constructive criticisms rolling! **


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5.**

10 years ago

Obito was horrified on the advent of the End of Year Exams, this was no regular test, it was going to decide which university you will ultimately attend, he cannot afford to get mediocre grades. Only a few weeks ago, whilst visiting his family, his father had scolded him for his "apathetic approach towards excellence", lecturing him that it was a trait in his family to simply "be a league above everybody else". Conceited idiots, he thought to himself.

Only this time Obito wanted to excel—no, he had always wanted to, it's merely the fact that he accepted the truth that he would never be as intelligent or prodigious as his best friend Kakashi. However this time, he was desperate for it.

Therefore a very stupefied Kakashi stared at the Uchiha at bewilderment upon hearing a request from his normally-so-goofy-and-unconcerned friend on some extra tuition.

"You can't be serious."

"Of course I am Bakashi," Obito snorted.

"Um… alright I guess you can come with me to the library… just, pay attention and don't doze off."

The goofball groaned as he glimpsed at the mountainous pile of notes, textbooks and encyclopedias, like hell was he actually going to remain there until eleven at night.

"Come on Bakashi, can you please offer me some advice on concentration?"

"Just concentrate."

"I did, for the past 3 hours!"

"You can leave if you want to, I'm staying a bit longer."

"No but there is still something I want to ask you, page 76 question 10…"

After enquiring his friend on all that he is unsure of, Obito decided that he'd rather spend the rest of his night not hogged by books.

"Come on, are you serious? Two more hours? Take a break!" He blurted out; his friend's studious habits were honestly, very, very, vexing at times.

"No I need a little more time to finalize this…"

"Alright then, I'm going to find Rin-chan and the others, see ya! Bakashi."

"Don't call me that."

He saw her walking out of the girls' boarding house, probably to escape all that stressful revision.

"Hey Rin-chan!"

"Obito…" There was something off about her; he couldn't really pinpoint what exactly. Was it disappointment? Disenchantment?

The edges of her eyes were slightly pink and misty.

"Rin… what's the matter? Anything you want to talk about?"

"No… nothing really, it's not that bad," except seconds after speaking those words, tears sluiced down her cheeks.

"Are you alright?" Obito was actually starting to get worried.

"Yes… no, of course not!" She couldn't contain herself anymore, without even noticing it, she had inundated her friend in a torrent of rushing words," I just didn't know what to do, my parents were never really that rich, they did agree to pay for my university fees in America if I got in it, but I just feel, so… so… selfish! I couldn't help it, but being a doctor was my dream… And I really wanted a PHD—now that would be too much for my parents, what if…" her voice trailed off as it became drowned by sobs.

"Hey Rin-chan…" his voice was surprisingly soft," if being a doctor really is your dream, then you better keep pursuing it, don't ever give up okay? It doesn't matter if you don't get in a good university, because… because… you're just meant for this… all right? Don't let anything discourage you."

"Thanks Obito, I guess you're right, I'm going to become a doctor either way… but how am I supposed to decide?" Rin still appeared troubled, she was still crying, unknowingly, she started hugging him.

"Look, I've never been good with family relationships, but I'm sure of one thing, you're family, you're mum and dad… they'll always support you no matter what you do, they'll be proud of your choices, your decisions regardless of how circumstances turned out… and if it doesn't work out, then… I can try to help… I'll always be there for you…"

"Obito! Are you sure… no… I think I'll just have another conversation with my parents, thank you so much. Hey, I've been revising for quite a while, want to take a walk with me just to clear our minds of the mess?" She pulled herself together.

"Sure!" he beamed back at her, it was night but she could still vaguely perceive his signature wide grin and orange goggles that reflected the argent moonlight. She grinned back at him, it was nice to know that Obito always figured a way out of the paths of pessimism and whenever needed, he was still the same cheery goofball that she had befriended on orientation day.

They had only walked for a couple of minutes when they coincided with Asuma and Kurenai.

"So you guys are dating, Kakashi and I were right!" Obito bellowed triumphantly.

"Oh, and Mr.I-am-always-late had finally mustered the guts to ask Rin out," Kurenai responded with the same sense of elation glistening in her eyes.

"No Kurenai, Obito and I were just taking a break from all that studying, we're just hanging out really…" Rin fervently defended.

"Yeah right, normal friends don't go taking each other on night time strolls, it's reserved for couples only," Asuma chuckled.

"No, no, no, no, NO!" Obito was blushing furiously, he couldn't have been more grateful that the dimness concealed this from the rest of them.

"Ah well, denial," Kurenai sighed, glancing at Asuma, "that's what happened to us until a few days ago, we've finally decided to go out publicly."

"I don't see how this is public," Obito snorted.

"No, silly, we're going to prom together!"

"That's it, I completely forgot about prom!" Rin interjected.

"Well, girl, you need a date for that," Kurenai had started to tease her again.

"It's not mandantory!"

"Denial, denial…"

* * *

><p>"<em>After that, Obito and Rin went all paranoid about finding a date for prom, honestly, Rin had hinted multiple times that she wanted be to be with her by offering to help me with this and that, but I played ignorant while Obito had asked me for tips on how to ask Rin out… It was all hard work for him, along with the upcoming exams, those were probably the toughest two months of High School for that poor kid!" Kakashi was in one of those 'past' dispositions again. "It eventually worked, well I kind of told Rin that Obito had an undeniable crush on her and clearly stated that I saw her as a friend and nothing else. Somehow, those two managed to work it out…"<em>

"_Playing matchmaker?" Shisui questioned._

"_You could put it that way! Though mind you, it was way more subtler…"_

_Anko slammed her desk in frustration, "look Ibiki, now their talking about silly prom dates!"_

"_Relax Anko!"_

"_Speaking of prom dates, I wonder who is Kakashi's…" she muttered to herself, only to hear her silver-haired ex say, "I just wasn't bothered to get one."_

"_I KNEW IT!"_

_Her colleagues sighed in annoyance as she surveyed every single nuance and tincture of movement on the screen. The message they got: she wanted to have a make-up talk with Kakashi._

_Obviously Anko denied that._

* * *

><p><span>5 and a half years ago<span>

"Alright me lads!" Anko chirped at Kotetsu and Izumo, both frightened so much by her presence that it looked as if they would wet themselves. "Welcome to my unit, I'm your boss, our key assignment for the moment is too…" she did a convivial scan through her papers, which were in fact, crammed with legal matters and affair regarding to the law, which were Kakashi's expertise; they were something Anko herself could never fathom, she always preferred having her partner conduct that side of the job.

The two men gulped, first impressions: their boss was scary or at least dauntingly assertive. Fortunately, his assistant/ partner appeared relatively sane. They crossed their fingers and hoped.

"As I have mentioned, there have been signs of illegal experiments being conducted on people all across the city; biological experiments, from the evidence that Kakashi and I have collected, they were performed by the same person, or at least same team. I want you two lackeys to hand these samples down to the laboratory for proper analysis, because my assistant—"

"Partner," Kakashi made an attempt to correct her, smirking slightly beneath his professional veneer.

"Oh just shut up you prissy, you're my minion, everyone knows that. Anyways you two, Kakashi here—"

"Glad you're finally starting to refer me by my name—"

"Stop interrupting! Those two lads needa know your name for future co-operations and I'm taking the liberty to introduce it. Basically that guy," she made an irritated gesture towards her mildly amused assistant, "is afraid of dissection, corpses—you name it we got it—"

"In my defense if a police or detective were afraid of corpses they would be unfit for the job and care to explain why I have been your longest lasting partner?" That was partially true, corpses were no big scare, it was when the entrails started spilling, and the sheer sight of it caused Kakashi to convulse in disgust. "Then I think there's the necessity of reminding you that these biological samples contain neither entrails, blood nor flesh, they're chemicals that—"

"Whatever, since when did you get into the habit of consistently trying to correct me like a pedantic prissy. Look, I need you here to help me deal with a couple of crucial documents. And you two! Do as I say, take these samples to the lab, got it?" Her sadistic, imposing manner of speech immediately informed the two that there was no backing down. The police stations laboratory was… repugnantly gruesome. Enough said about it—Kakashi himself tried his best to stay away from it as much as possible, though Anko personally relished in the processes of dissection and surveyed the nuances of grotesque, hazardous chemical components with uncanny interest.

After Kotetsu and Izumo exited the room, Kakashi decided that he had been acquainted with his partner long enough to broach on the matter of the criminal on which Anko had much coveted to capture.

"Anko…"

"It's Miss Mitarashi or Mitarashi-sama for you," she replied brusquely, though not deliberately bellicose—her tone of speech was somewhat acquired through her tomboyish attitude and problematic past; the thing is, Kakashi noticed, Anko found the very concept of trust incomprehensible as well. "Scarecrow," she added for the sole purpose of teasing the man.

"This criminal you were always intent on arresting, you've never bothered to tell me his name, so far in our partnership, you've always referred to him as 'The Snake' or his criminal code name—"

"Orochimaru." Anko frowned impatiently. Why is the man beside her so frustratingly inquisitive?

"Excuse me…" Kakashi's voice trailed off.

"His name's Orochimaru, yes you heard it right. That guy practically ruined my life. Happy?"

* * *

><p><span>10 years ago<span>

The results came out today, as predicted, Kakashi had obtained a place in one of the countries top universities and much to her delight, Rin had gotten in one of the top Medical Universities in the USA. Obito himself was surprised at how well he did comparing to his usual grades—he had managed to make it into one of his parent's desired universities. All seemed well.

Except their separation.

With a sunken sensation, Obito knew his days with Rin and Kakashi were limited, sure they could still keep in contact after they each went their own ways, but it won't be the same anymore: Rin was virtually across the other side of the planet whilst he himself would be busy with everything and Kakashi, Kakashi still retained his tunnel vision when it comes to work.

However, two weeks of High School still remained, two weeks of carefree blitheness, two weeks of procrastinating around the route of life—Obito intended to make the most out of it. Besides, he grinned to himself, prom was coming up.

The entire night slipped away in a blur, spasmodic disco lights, the clinking of cups, the ubiquitous air of effervescence, the smell of alcohol, the awards of prom king and queen, the mouthwatering cuisines, the slow dancing, the lavish attires and Rin.

To be frank, poor Obito danced with two-left foot and his date, Rin, wasn't much of a dancer either. As a result he kept on tripping over her lavender gown, slipping and she had given up on restraining her laughter.

"Obito, you are just so adorable!"

"Meh… don't blame me I don't dance." He skulked.

He glanced at Asuma and Kurenai with a tincture of envy, those two were naturals, they had the fluidity, the suave and the chemistry.

"Obito-kun, don't worry about them!" she chuckled.

"Let's just join Bakashi and Gai in their drinking game."

Sure enough, only a few feet away, Gai had challenged his 'eternal rival' to a drinking competition, and by the looks of it, he was beginning to loose—it probably not a bright idea to challenge someone like that when you had one of the school's worst alcohol intolerances.

For the past four years, those two had carried out some of the most eccentric and extreme challenges, varying from as mundane as scissor, paper, rocks, to climbing trees, to basketball and now, drinking.

"Hey guys mind if we join?" Obito asked.

"Sure I hereby declare alcohol as unyouthful, my head feels dizzy!" Gai replied, his cheeks livid, one more shot and he'd probably drop down on the floor.

"Gai, you're alcohol tolerance sucks," Obito remarked flatly.

"Um… guys I've never really drank before…" Rin was a little embarrassed to admit.

"I barely do it, just on some family gathering occasions," Obito replied, while speaking he ordered a shot.

That night was the first time in their lives that they got drunk, Gai went first, immediately collapsing and breaking into a snore, then it was Kakashi who got completely wasted (perhaps the only time in his life) and disturbingly talkative, striking conversations here and there, earning incredulous looks from students who always perceived him as calm and reserved.

Obito felt a warm fuzz in his head and Rin's cheeks were a mild pink colour.

"Obito… mind if we go outside for a moment?"

"No problem!"

The ambience outside contrasted starkly with the vibrant dancing and singing, the humidity of summer was already manifested and the air was suffused with tranquility. There wasn't a sound apart from the occasional chirping of birds and grasshoppers, yet due to the pollution in the cities, the sky was almost devoid of stars. In response to their surrounding environment, both of them just kept on walking.

"Look, Obito," Rin smiled sweetly, this was the kind of smile that imbued Obito with bliss on the inside. " I just wanted to thank you, I mean you've been so supportive of me, I just… I just didn't know what I'll do without someone like you in university."

"You wanted to study medicine right? Then do it! I'm sure you'll make lots of friends there."

"You're right it's my dream, it's just… know that I'll miss you a lot okay? Kakashi too. You are my best friend—no, much more than that." She shook her head. Am I delirious? Thoughts collided with each other in turmoil, could I really be falling for him? No, but Kakashi… Yes I like Kakashi…

In a sense Rin had loved him but she had always dismissed it as sisterly love, or love between friends—all her romantic feelings were directed towards Kakashi. Yet now she contemplated, was that actually love or mere infatuation? No, Kakashi was still her really good friend, it's just, Obito was family, and he was someone she could completely relate too, regardless of the situation. Now those thoughts were tormenting her again.

"Right back at you!" Obito re-fastened his—in her opinion, rather comical and endearing—goggles. "Hey, I think I want to join the police, be some sorta safekeeper, you know? I was just thinking that once you returned from America, we can… hang out?"

Rin laughed good-naturedly. "Well thanks for mentioning that captain obvious!"

* * *

><p>"<em>Guys we have to get Anko away from the screen," Genma whispered to his colleagues, deeply unnerved, "or she'll go crazy."<em>

_True to his words, Anko was yelling at it impatiently, commanding Kakashi to speed up on his account._

"_Some things just can't be rushed," Ibiki shook his head._

"_Anyone up for lunch?" Izumo, who had recently risen in their ranks and had been a previous assistant of the frenetic woman, inquired._

"_You guys go, I'm staying!" Anko spoke defiantly._

_They all gulped, sometimes, there was just no reasoning with this woman._

"_I'll stay too then," Ibiki said, "just to prevent her from barging in their interrogation."_

"_The rest of the term, went by pretty fast," Kakashi sighed, "those were the good old days."_

"_I have a question, why did you decide to become a member of the police force, instead of, you know, becoming a lawyer?"_

"_No idea, it just seemed the right job for me."_

"_But it sure is a lot of hard work and danger."_

"_So is being a lawyer, granted, it may be less dangerous…"_

"_You're a funny guy."_

"_Anyways, the day Rin departed for the Americas, me and Obito were there in the airport alongside her parents…"_

* * *

><p>Kakashi had seen his friend cry on several occasions, but none as serious as this, there was something a little wrong about his appearance.<p>

"It's just… I'll miss her so much…" he sobbed, "but, I'm so happy for her at the same time."

Kakashi had never been an expert on comforting people, he was unsure on what to do.

Discerning a nuance of distress in his friend's eyes, he patted Obito on the shoulder, "you guys would see each other someday, I mean, she said she'll come back afterwards. Besides you guys can always use letters and email. It's not the end of the world."

Obito nodded, his eyes still red.

That was it.

His goggles were missing.

"Hey, Obito, where on earth are your goggles?"

"I gave them to Rin-chan when she asked for it, as a parting gift you know," he laughed.

"Obito, dear lord, you give the most peculiar presents to people!"

"Hey Bakashi, admit it, you loved—no, practically drooled over the Icha Icah Make Out Paradise series!"

Nervously re-adjusting her seat, Rin Nohara glanced pensively out of her window, above the clouds, the sky was always clear blue. She was anxious, apprehensive and slightly agitated about her upcoming prospect, a few days later, she would began a brand new phase of life, at a land which she knew so little about in person…

To ease her nerves, she clutched Obito's orange goggles and made a silent promise.

_Obito,_ she assured herself, _I'll be all right, I'll come back to you someday, meanwhile… just don't hurt yourself, I'm still watching you, you know._

_And Kakashi… I'll miss you too, look after Obito okay? I know I've never got around to tell you that I love you, but… but, will you wait for me?_

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Well how was it? The scene with Anko took me quite a while to write up and I'm at least faintly satisfied with the outcome. Also, I'll be putting up a poll sometime next week about whether you would like to see Shisui or Anko as the fourth main character so send me your thoughts! One another note, how did you find the overall characterization, did I manage to distort the characters too much from their canon personalities?**

**Like seriously, do review, reviews help me a LOT and I do tend to go back and fix some inconsistencies that you all so helpfully pointed out and also, reviews are a source of inspiration that I fall back to when I get lazy or demotivated to write this.**

**And finally, I have a few Team Minato story recommendations:**

**The Mistakes He Made **_by SimplyUnmistakable_

_Summary:_ AU Something goes wrong with the Moon Plan and Obito is thrown back in time, back in his twelve years old body. It's another chance, but a chance to rethink your decisions doesn't mean you'll end up making the good ones. Obito/Rin.

My thoughts: It's a multi-chapter story so there's none of the frustration you get from one shots when you keep yearning for more. Obito's inner turmoils between who he was, what he had done and who he wants to be now that Rin's alive, the Rin in this story is simply fascinating, her character development from a vulnerable kunoichi to a strong-willed, independent thinker is pretty believable and some of the dialogue between the two had me a little teary eyed.

**A Switch in Time **_by WDW_ _Summary:_ Rin gets rescued, not by her teammates, but by two mysterious, strangely familiar men.

My thoughts: One shot, hilarious, leaves you longing for more.

**Children's Folly **_by pinkfloyd1770_

_Summary: _Death was easy. Kakashi never leaves the Iwa cave, and Obito shoulders the burden of a shinobi's life.

My thoughts: A very insightful, heart-wrenching one shot as to what might possibly have happened if Kakashi had died instead of Obito. A must read if you're interested in Team Minato AU's that are in Narutoverse.

**Duplicity **_by WDW_

_Summary: _Rin Nohara wasn't as perfect as everyone thought. A five part story and epilogue.

My thoughts: Cried again on that, a very interesting intake to a previous theory that Rin was a spy for Kiri and well... read more to find out.

**Scarred **_by Bracken Light_

_Summary: _With Rin dead and his life destroyed, Obito must face the numbness of everyday life with just his memories and the scars. But when a naïve, over-eager brat who refuses to give up walks in, he can't help but be intrigued. Torn between the past and present, Obito finds himself faced with a guy who wants to hear him say that he cares. And he'll do anything not to. Possessive!Obito AU

My thoughts: Like seriously, don't let the fact that this is yaoi put you off, the plot here is simply sumptuous and the author manages to incorporate all sorts of elements, characters of Naruto into a modern day scenario perfectly. Basically Naruto goes to work and Uchiha Enterprise and Obito's his boss, then we meet characters like Itachi, Sasuke, Zetsu, Sakura and even Tayuya (who, by the way is completely badass). If you must, I guess you can skip the smut scenes.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6.**

"Cheers!" Their cups clinked together mellifluously, yet at the same time seeming irresistibly poignant, as if the tender convergence of the two cups articulated the farewell between the two of them with finality. The red, vibrantly sullen liquid swishing as the containers collided.

It was the last day of summer and Kakashi and Obito were relishing their receding moments of freedom at a café near the former's residence, as they drew near the commencement of adulthood. The strangely reviving scent of coffee hung thickly about the air, along with something redolent of nostalgia and loss.

Kakashi's heart was grave and his sentiments were painfully apparent whilst Obito looked happy, smiling. Obito was one to treat separation with celebration, perhaps because the boy was confident that both of them would meet again, unchanged and hale and hearty as ever.

"Hey Bakashi, I've decided that I want to join the police force, you know to help keep this city safe and everything, plus my family is a major benefactor," Obito beamed wildly, "and when Rin-chan comes back I'll propose to her!"

"It's a bit too early to tell, isn't it!?" Kakashi chuckled as he shook his head in mock-disapproval.

Obito pouted, "I suppose so, but I promised her I'll pick her up at the airport! Hey , Bakashi, have you every thought about getting yourself a girlfriend? You know, you've got girls swooning over you practically everywhere, it's not like your devoid of options."

"No," Kakashi replied flatly.

"Hey, um, mind if I tag along with you tonight," Obito requested—blurted—awkwardly, unsure of how to phrase this in a suitable manner."I have guests staying over at my house and my room would be occupied."

"No problem." Kakashi answered him without even thinking.

"Is Minato-san's wife pregnant?"

"Yeah, three months."

"Awesome!"

"Yeah."

"Wait, hang on—I've heard that pregnant woman tend to get cranky—"

"Oh you'll be fine!"

...

_"Wait so Obito knew Minato Namikaze before and even stayed over at his house?" Shisui was rather incredulous and… uneasy, "that's why it was so easy for him to—"_

_ "Please," Kakashi cut him off. Seven years later, his guardian's death was still a sore subject on him: he had felt so hopeless during the funeral, so preoccupied and immersed in despair. On top of this, he did nothing, nothing to ameliorate the living conditions of their orphaned son—he was so engrossed in his work as an inspector that he utterly neglected and casted away little Naruto Uzumakito the loneliness of his orphanage. It was something he felt better left unsaid._

_ Kakashi mentally jabbed himself in the stomach. Why, just why hadn't I adopted him? You're right Obito, I'm nothing but scum. The man had berated himself recurrently throughout the years._

_ "I don't really want to talk about this," Kakashi's eyes misted, the grief that had unknowingly been precipitated was overwhelming. Scenarios of what could have been tormented his conscience._

_ "But Naruto is gone too, Iruka Umino, the caretaker of the orphanage informed me five months ago," Shisui continued to question him relentlessly, "just around the time when Rin and Obito disappeared, this can't be a coincidence—"_

_ "STOP!"_

_ Kakashi screamed so loud that it knocked Shisui out of his chair in shock, for the next few seconds there was a profound silence that lingered about the room. Then realizing what he had just done, Kakashi gazed into his inspector's unfaltering eyes and mumbled an apology._

_ "Must have been hard for you…" Shisui shook his head, astounded yet unoffended by the sudden outburst._

_ "You have no idea, change is always hard to accept and for Obito, change is a catharsis, it helped him repress his discontent with the world we live in and what happened to him by changing his appearance, his actions, his behavior," Kakashi remarked gravely. "But of course, that was not until a few years after what I had just told you."_

_ "Why didn't Obito return home then… why, just why? I mean his dad wouldn't have kicked him out just to make the guests stay there, it just doesn't add up…" the interrogator muttered under his breath_

_ "Pardon me, were you saying something," Kakashi interrupted his thoughts._

_ "No, nothing, it's just his house should have had plenty of rooms for people to stay in, he didn't have to—"_

_ "Guess he just never clicked along with his parents—"_

_ "No, no, it must be that—"_

_ "How did you know all this? I mean, why would you ask?"_

_ "Nothing, it's really nothing…" Shisui let the time elapse in silence until Kakashi was in a suitable condition to recount his tale again._

...

"So Kakashi-kun, you're friend is staying over with us, dattebane!" Kushina smiled at the two boys, her stomach had not yet acquired the protrusion of a pregnant woman but she was close to it.

"Hi, Mrs. Namikaze!" Obito beamed at her buoyantly, "how's the baby doing?"

"Oh… little Naruto is still kicking well, he's fine and healthy dattebane!" The woman rubbed her stomach protectively.

"Ehh…" Kakashi looked at her in a puzzled state, "Naruto, isn't that a… Kushina-san, your obsession with Ramen has really taken its toll…" he shook his head.

"Come on Bakashi! Naruto's a cool name!" Obito laughed and casually smacked Kakashi across the back, earning an irate glare. His friend had become much less aloof over the years, often joining in a joke and attending much more of Obito's 'get together' hangouts—still, Kakashi retained some pedantic habits of his earlier days, albeit they were much softened and mitigated.

His guardian greeted them as they entered the living room, the entire place was suffused with warmth and the air was tinctured here and there with the scent of ramen. Hot, delectable, mouthwatering ramen, as Obito would usually put it.

Kakashi eyed sarcastically at his friend, who was wolfing down bowl after bowl, feigning an expression of disapproval. "Really Obito? By this rate, you'll explode from the sheer overflowing of ramen!"

"Bahhh! Nonsense Bakashi, Kushina-san makes the best food," his best friend pouted back at him stubbornly.

...

_Shisui coughed, "I know this might not be the most appropriate time to interrupt but may I ask you one thing: well, it's been insinuated from your account that Obito and Rin were… an item—"_

_ "Yes. They wer—"_

_ "But we all know that you broke up with Anko—"_

_ "That's completely irrelevant." Kakashi disliked the direction this conversation was vying towards._

_"No I meant, Anko broke up with you, not only because of Obito Uchiha's faked death. It was Rin wasn't it?... She… told me," he concluded his sentence solemnly. "You know perfectly well what I'm talking abou,t so stop playing dumb Hatake."_

_ "That was a mistake! I shouldn't have kissed her, it was… I don't know, I was confused at the moment, at that time, our whole world was collapsing and—you have to understand, I don't love her that way!" A whole wave of emotions, spasmodically burst out of Kakashi's remaining bastions of suppressed, clandestine thoughts_

_ His interrogator's face darkened. "Obito isn't one to take jealousy lightly. Yes, despite you being a prodigy in high school and him seemingly content with it, I know that he drew comfort from the mere notion that he would one day be acknowledged, recognized, do better in society than you—it's not actual acceptance, he envied you from the very beginning—"_

_ "That's not true! You have no right to say that!"_

_ "All evidences seem to point that way, I see know reason why not."_

_Kakashi took a deep breath and eyed Shisui sternly. "You must realize, that Obito… has changed a lot."_

_ "That, I cannot back you up, as you are aware, I wasn't well acquainted with him as you were."_

_ "Then you should trust my judgments regarding his feelings."_

_ Shisui sighed defeatedly, "very well Kakashi, suit yourself…"_

...

8 years ago

Spring was coming; the remaining cold gave way to a lukewarm breeze that swept past a fairly cheerful Kakashi, it caressed his silver hair and left it in a somewhat haphazard fashion. There had been a thaw yesterday, as the frosted veneer of the lake near his accommodation began to fracture and snow itself was starting to dissolve, seeping in to grounds.

It was Kakashi's second year in university and in all honesty, he did enjoy it. First and foremost, university allotted you a lot more freedom than the rigid rules of high school could ever permit—nowadays the young adult found himself going out more and more frequent with his friends, of course, being Kakashi, he somehow always manages to balance that out with his (still profuse) studying time.

He shared a flat with Asuma Sarutobi and Maito Gai. The former never seemed to stop his excessive and, in Kakashi's opinion, drastically unhealthy habits of smoking, the air of their place being frequently pervaded with the irritating stench of smoke and tobacco, which did spawn a few disagreements here and there between the flat mates. While the latter always managed to occupy himself with a ridiculous amount of workouts as well as proposing the most absurd challenges, such as competing who can balance on one foot the longest, on the rooftop. Somehow both Kakashi and Asuma found themselves reluctantly complying time and again.

Yet that was also the year when Kakashi last saw his friend Obito.

He was no longer the buoyant, enthusiastic teen Kakashi met in high school. The young adult had his raven hair drooped around his face, it no longer spiked up in a kiddish manner and his cheeks were slightly hollowed. Obito Uchiha seemed a little off, now in retrospect.

"Bakashi, hey." Came a voice much rougher than Kakashi recalled. Something about the boy seemed…incongruent, it was like he had switched souls with another, much more solemn and bleak, being.

"Obito! How have you been?!" Ironically, by contrast, Kakashi seemed much more jaunty.

Normally Obito would have thrown his arms around his relatively stoic friend; normally Kakashi would yell in protest and call him an idiot; normally they would engage in some ridiculous conflict about 'maturity' then go out together for lunch.

Kakashi could sense that this occasion wasn't normal.

"I'm alright, you?" His sentences were brutally concise, as if the Uchiha was deliberately trying to refrain from using too many words: he was closed off.

"Eh… I'm alright too, I guess, anything happened? You seem awfully quiet today, come in!" He gestured the man, the unfamiliar man, inside.

"Nothing, none of your business I'd say. Anyways, are your flat mates present perchance?" Obito asked coolly.

"No, not now, Gai's in the gym and Asuma's going out to a party," Kakashi tried to start a conversation.

"And you're still at home, studying I presume?" His friend snorted. "What a nerd!"

Both of them burst out laughing. Kakashi heaved a sigh of relief, maybe he really was overthinking: Obito could have been on one of his bad days, bad days happen to everyone.

However, the man's expression grew glum in a matter of seconds, there was a certain vacancy in his eyes that perturbed Kakashi—they felt cold, hollow and… broken. No. This man in front of him wasn't Obito anymore, at least not the one he remembered back in highschool.

"So, how's life been?" The silver-haired man leaned against the wall while speaking in a causal tone. "It's been a while since we last met."

"Look Bakashi," Obito's face darkened. "Things… have happened. I'm not in university anymore. And no, it's by my own choice, nothing to sympathize about." He added when he sensed shock on Kakashi's face, then instinctively, he clenched his fists hard and bitterly, a motion that didn't go unnoticed.

"Wait, why haven't you told me anything about this? When—"

"Around 3,4 months ago. I came to say goodbye." His tone was blunt, concise, to the point—the exact opposite of the ridiculous rambler Kakashi once knew.

"Obito! I'm serious! What is this nonsense!" Kakashi raised his voice, he was flabbergasted, nothing made sense to him. Sure, he hadn't spoken to his friend for a while but this man in front of him, the way he talked, the way he presented himself, was not Obito; in fact, the Kakashi at that time could almost vouch that the man he was facing was none other than his childhood friend's alter ego, or Obito's doppelgänger furnished with a sepulchral persona.

"I already told you Bakashi, don't bother finding out, it doesn't matter anymore. I made my choice." Obito retorted icily, his voice seemed devoid of its last trace of sentiment.

"What choice?!"

"That's none of your concern either."

"Then… then… Obito… Quit playing a coward, quit denying me from the truth. Tell me why you're here! Tell me why—"

"Didn't I already mention I came here to say goodbye?" That man raised his eyebrows.

"You needn't. We'll still be friends, you know this," Kakashi whispered quietly. "Isolating yourself from people who are reaching out to you isn't good." He echoed Minato's words perfectly.

"Really Bakashi, you still believe that?" Obito stared at him, his eyes flickered with annoyance. "Both of us have changed, but I guess we're both still friends. Never mind, do what you must do, I'm leaving."

With that he laughed callously, the rancorous discordance ringing through Kakashi's flat. For an instance, Kakashi Hatake felt his heart drop inexplicably, his blood flow paused while his insides shuddered uncomfortably—not from fear, no, this was his friend, or at least the husk of what remained. Deformed, distorted but still recognizable. His palpitations were that of morbid disbelief, confusion and shock.

"And Rin?" He called after his lost friend.

"What about her?" Obito responded curiously. "I'll do what I must. One last note, don't try to find me, it won't work Bakashi."

"Wait, what is this about?!"

Obito was already vanishing, blending into the insignificance of his surroundings. Of course, Kakashi argued with himself often after that incident, Obito couldn't have been serious. That boy could as well have been playing some regular prank, playing the stolid and serious guy simply for the sake of bothering Kakashi.

Obito, we'll meet again, mark my words, Kakashi Hatake vowed.

...

5 years ago

Rin had never expected to linger in the States for another year, regardless of her efforts directed towards her medical studies, the scholarships attained still fell short of her school fees. Her dad would, doubtless encourage her to continue, yes, he would have done everything, even sell half of his belongings or lend a couple of valuable possessions to a pawn shop if circumstances had allowed. Except Rin herself would never allow that.

With a mildly disappointed approach to the upcoming reality of ending her medical education, she prepared for her return to Japan, to Konoha to her friends, Kurenai, Kakashi, Gai and… Obito.

She readied herself to withdraw her place for her PHD, curtailed by two years in advance. Taking a deep, resolute breath, she dialed the numbers.

"Hello? This is Rin Nohara…" She spoke in that unfamiliar tongue with a light trace of a foreign accent.

"Yes, what do you want Ms. Nohara?" A voice answered on the other side, polite and courteous.

"I would like to withdraw my studies, yes and the money too."

"Excuse me? Are you sure you're mistaken?" the receiver sounds slightly baffled.

"No, I'm perfectly aware of my decision." _Why wouldn't I? I've already attained my university degree anyway, that'll be more than enough._

"But , your school fees have already been paid, all of it."

"Wait a second, what? The last time I remembered—I—I'm still a third of the money short, that is including my scholarships," Rin's pace of speech quickened considerably.

"Well, looks like you're in luck. A bank account from Konoha, Japan has already secured your fees."

"Oh… Thanks for letting me know, I'll call you if I have any other requests."

Rin hung up her phone perplexedly, frowning.

_Guess I'll just have to tell Kakashi to wait a couple of years before we meet at the airport. Strange. He's an investigator at Konoha, he'll help figure out whats beneath this phenomenon._

It was a queer thing that she and Kakashi have been in touch whilst her friendship with Obito had been quelled over the years. Despite having half a world's distance between them, their friendship had strengthened instead of dimming into insignificance. Perhaps she owed thanks to Obito's initial influence on the boy—no, man.

Often, submerged in the dreary routines one has to endure while adjusting to an alien place, Rin would open her email account and send Kakashi a couple of messages. They started out as imprecise greetings, which could have been sent to anyone, like "what's up?" or "how's everything going?" then they started to get more personal like "how's Obito doing?" or "got a girlfriend yet?" and afterwards, she felt comfortable enough to blurt out her feelings of isolation and loneliness to him. No, don't get her wrong, she still enjoyed University but at times, the notion that her home and family were out of touch gripped her irresistibly.

In return he would recount what he did, what he studied and how infuriating his roommates were, especially Gai. There were times when he sent rather comforting messages like "it'll be fine" and "just talk to me when you need it", a blissful grin would always manifest whenever Rin skimmed across similar messages, she would then re-read them, savor them, picture Kakashi saying them in person. Eventually she'd fell slightly embarrassed at her irrational euphoria,_ just a silly little crush Rin, his texts are nothing personal…_ she had oft to remind herself.

Speaking of Kakashi's regular rants, there was one about Gai organizing a Youthful Marathon around their house and after both Asuma and Kakashi's fervent protests, it had been relocated… around and inside the building where Kakashi took his courses—more's the pity as the hallways were swarmed with sweaty marathoners, trampling heedlessly with Gai in the lead preaching about youth and shining youngsters taking the lead in society. Then there was the occasion when Asuma stole weed from a bunch of crack dealers, Gai, having nil experience whatsoever in making tea, predictably immersed it in boiling water and afterwards, invited Kakashi and the lot to be tasters for his "youthful concoction."

Rin involuntarily chuckled and opened her email, her eyes skimming through the list of contacts for Kakashi's name. Once it was located, she promptly sent him a few words:

_Kakashi,_

_How have you been? I've decided to stay at the States for another two years and say hi to Obito to me, would you? We've scarcely been in contact ever since I came here._

_Also, call me as soon as you've received this message, there's something I really need to discuss with you._

_Rin_

Afterwards, she shut her eyelids in respite from the enormity of what she had just learnt of her studies and waited.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Yes, rest assured this story isn't abandoned! I've managed to cover Rin's part of the story as well in this chapter and I've decided that Shisui would be the fourth (sort-of) main character. I've got upcoming exams that I need to worry about but I'll come back to this story as soon as they're finished. Also, if you would like to see this story being updated more often, please vote on the poll on my profile to help to prioritize my writing time :)**

**Any feedback would be greatly appreciated! This took a great deal of my time and I would love to see some of my efforts come to fruition. Also, is anyone willing to be a beta for this story? I've realized that whenever I write late in the evening (which is pretty much 99% for fanfiction), I'm prone to making silly, juvenile grammatical errors. Any willing volunteers, don't hesitate to send me a PMS!**


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